The Holy Kingdom Shadow Skill is a thrilling, involving, dramatic fantasy, highly recommended for fans of fantasy martial arts. The art and music are very good, and the choreography of the fight scenes is outstanding. The main characters, Elle and Gau, are superbly played by veteran voice actors Megumi Hayashibara and Kappei Yamaguchi, (perhaps best known as female and male Ranma). It was an anime series that spawned from the world of Mugumu Okada. The series started as a manga series in 1992 with 5 installments but was later binded into 3 namely 'Black Howling', 'Black Wing', and 'Phantom Shade'. Later OVA movies were created and released by MANGA for those Shadow Skill fans in 1996 then a TV series was aired in 1998.
The series is set in another world where fighting is a way of life. The story mostly takes within the Holy Kingdom of Ashliana, which is the envy of every other kingdom. The kingdom's capital, the Holy City of Juliannes, is located at the heart of the Ashliana, and is also where the current ruler, Princess Lilivelt Lu Biju resides.
Juliannes is protected by the Four warriors cities which surrounds Juliannes in every direction. Guarding the west is the Magic city of Felisha. Guarding the east is the Swordsmen city of Kisholana. Guarding the north is the Forest city of Lekitor. And guarding the south is the Mercenary city of Kuruda.
Elle's posse The story focuses on Elle Ragu, the 59th Sevalle of Kuruda, and her posse. Gau Ban, her adopted brother, a Valle. Follymayer Razmatizer, her close friend, a Sue Rame. And Kyo Phantom Ryu, a Septia. The TV series shows how Elle and her posse along with her other friends, fight for the honor of Kuruda and also to protect Kuruda's 2000 year history of Invincibility. The first OVA tells the tale of Gau Ban, the Black Howling, and his journey to becoming the most feared warrior in the history of Kuruda (he becomes the most feared warrior ten years after). In his journey, he is forced to fight his sister Elle. The first OVA is actually Act 16 "Karma" from the manga. The second part of the OVA is some what a summarized version of the first few episodes of the TV series. The manga is actually the basis for both the TV series and the OVA. The great Scar Face Some parts of the story (especially the later parts) are just in the manga, and they havn't been put into animation yet. Just recently around October 2001, the latest Shadiw Skill OVA was just released in Japan called 'Shadow Skill Style' which an entirely new animation not based on the manga. This OVA introduces a new character called Myu who seems have some sort of incredible power. Also just around October, the latest installement to the manga series was just released. The main story of this chapter focuses on the mysterious past of Vy Low, AKA Scar Face. So far the series is still far from over since many mysteries in the story has not been solved yet. We can just hope that Megumu Okada will continue writing more chapters to the awesome series.